Automatic valve mechanism.



E,A.BAR|\IES.

AUTOMATIC VALVE MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED IULY I9. 1915.

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ggg/1%@ Patented J une 13, 1916, l

AEARL A. BARNES, or onnvvnriv,v IOWA.

AUTOMATIC VALVE 1VIE('}I-IANIS1\T.`

Applicationled July 19, 1915.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, EARL A. BARNES, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Oelwein, in the county of Fayette and State of Iowa, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Valve Mechanism, of which -the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms apart of my specification. Y

My invention relates to valve mechanism especially intended for use in connection with a squirt-hose employed on locomotives for the purpose of wetting down the deck and the coal.

The object of my invention is the provision of mechanism, the operation whereof will be entirely automatic, so that the hot water or steam, or both, obtained from the locomotive-boiler, will only be permitted to flow through the squirt-hose when the lat'- ter is held under tension and in position to properly direct the stream; the flow into and through the hose being instantaneously and automatically shut oil as soon as the tension on the hose is relaxed, by releasing the squirt-hose, so that theI danger of scalding the engine-men or operator will be` entirely eliminated. .A

In the drawing: Figure 1,illustrates the application of myV invention, in side elevation to the fire-box end of a locomotive boiler; the cab-end of a locomotive and the forward or open end of a tender being shown to illustrate the adaptation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of the valve-mechanism. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the valve-mechanism with the operating mechanism removed, illustrating, partially in dotted lines, a method of securing the valve to the boiler. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of a portion ofthe valve-operating and hose-clamping mechanism.

In the particular exemplification of my invention, as disclosed in the drawing, the device is shown applied to the fire-box end of a locomotiveboiler;. a portion of the cab or deck of the locomotive and a portionof a tender being shown in Fig. 1 in order to illustrate a method of application. n

The invention comprises va valve 10, which is preferably connected byv means of pipe 11 to the delivery end of the inJector Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented June 13, 1916,'

Serial No. 40,537, Y l I 12, usually located at the side of the boiler as shown; it being understood, ofcourse, that the injector may be of the usual constructions employed in locomotive practice.

As the injector forms no part of my invention, a detailed description of the construction and operation thereof need not be entered into.

The valve part ofthe mechanism consists of the body portion 13, provided with the inlet port or passage 14 and the outlet port or passage 15, see Fig. 2. The inlet and outlet'ports or passages are separated by the intermediate, horizontally disposed diaphragm or walllG provided with the communicating port 17. The'inlet side'of the diaphragm 16 is arranged to provide a valve-seat for the valve 18, arranged toA move in a manner perpendicular tothe wall or diaphragm 16. The valve 18 is vpreferably'provided on both surfaces with the guide-stems 19 and 20, which are slidably mounted in the cap-members 21 and`22. re'- spectively. The cap-member 22 is provided with a hole extending part way therethrough, namely to a distance slightly beyond the point to which stem 20 normally extends into said opening, as clearly shown in Fig. 2; thus permitting vertical movement of the valve 18 and its stems to a predetermined extent.' The body portion L13 of the valve is preferably tapped so as to provide the threaded openings to receive the threaded shank portions of cap-members 21 and 22, which also close the inner ends of -the passages 14 and 15. These cap-memmember 22, and normally tends to maintain valve 18 on its seatwhen the pressureA of the fluid in passage 141 has been removed, by reason of the shutting off of fluid through pipe 11 andinto passage 14. As the stem 19 of the valve 1 8 is adapted to extend eny tirely through the cap-member 21, I prefer to enlarge the opening through which stem 19 passes, at theouter end thereof, in order .to receive the packing ring 24, which is held in place by the stuiiing-box 25, which screws into the enlarged outer vend of the stem-passage, seeFig. 2, and forms a fluid-tight connection.

The cap-member 21 is provided with an arm 21a, the outer end whereof is preferably -bifurcated and receives a lever 26, which is pivotally secured at 27 to the arm 21a. The inner or short arm 26L of lever 26 is arranged to extend across the top of stem 19, which is preferably rounded as shown in Fig. 2, so as to aord sliding contact with the lever. The outer or long arm of lever 26 has a clamp-member 28, preferably pivoted thereto, as shown at 29, while the other end of clamp-member 28 is intended to be securely fastened in any sutable manner, as, for example, by means of bolt 30. The end of lever 26 and the clamp-member 28 are similarly bowed, as shown in Fig. 4, to encircle the squirt-hose 31, see Fig. 1; the bowed orv hose-receiving portions of the lever and clamp-member 28 are, of course, made so as to provide a substantially circular passage, smaller in diameter than the diameter of the hose, in order to afford a good grip on the hose 3l, so as to prevent the hose slipping therethrough.

The inlet passage lt'is preferably tapped, as shown in Fig. 2, to receive the connection 32, for effecting proper connection with vpipe 11, see Fig. 1; and the outlet passage 15 is also shown tapped to receive the threaded end of the nipple 33, see Fig. 2. The nipple-'33.is adapted to enter the end of Ahose 31 in order that a suitable clamp, as shown, for example, at 34 in Fig. 1, may be employed for securely clamping the hose onto the outlet end of the valve. The lever 26 is clamped to hose 31, so as to allow slight play of hose intermediate of the clamping point of the lever and point of connection with the nipple 33, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. This will allow the hose 31 to be lifted so as to exert an upward pull on the long arm of lever 26 without exerting a pulling strain on the inner end of the hose 31 where it is coupled to the nipple 33.

The squirt-hose and its valve-mechanism are preferably located near the engine-deck; the valve being secured at any convenient point by means of a suitable bracket, as, for example, illustrated in Fig. 3, where the bracket is shown in dotted lines and clamped to the valve 10 by means of the stud-bolts 35; the bracket being preferably secured to It will be understood, of course, that any suitable method of securing the valve in place may be employed, the valve, however, being preferably located at a point that will enable an upward pull on the hose 31, during the ordinary or proper use of the squirt-hose. The connection 36 supplies water from the tender 37 to the injector 12; the iiow of water being induced through the action of steam supplied from the boiler to the injector 12 by means of pipe 38, in the usual manner.

1t is evident from the construction shown and described, that when the engine-crew desire to wet the coal or the deck, or both, the free end of squirt-hose 31 is grasped and a slight upward pull exerted thereon; this will causelever 26 to press downwardly on stem 19 and movevalve 18 ofi? its seat against the action of spring 23 and the pressure of the steam and water in the inlet passage 14 of the valve; it being understood, of course, that the injector is open.

It is' evident that as soon as tension on the hose is released, the upward pull on lever 26 will thereby be released, so that'the force of the fluid in passage 14, together with the action of spring 23, will immediately return valve 18 to its seat and shut off the flow of water and steam, either one or both, through the squirt-hose 3l.

With my improved construction, the action of the squirt-hose is entirely automatic, so that the possibility of serious injury to the engine-men, due to scalding with hot water, will be entirely eliminated.

The automatic operation of my device will cause the valve to be immediately closed, should the hose blow or slip oil" of the nippleconnection, as the operator may drop the hose, which will release tension on the hose, and cause the outflowing Huid, assisted by the spring, to close the valve, and thereby shut off the further flow. With the constructions heretofore employed, the fact that the injector may have previously been closed, has induced the enginesmen to forget to close off the usual globe-valve employed, with the result that when the injector was again opened, steam and hot water was allowed to escape into the cab through the squirt-hose, thereby causing serious injury to the crew. Again, with the construction heretofore employed, the globe-valve has usually been located down near the deck, where it has frequently been accidentally kicked or rubbed open by the crew while climbing on or olf the deck. Furthermore, with the previous constructions where the globe-valve was located down near the deck, if the squirt-hose should burst or slip off of the nipple, the flow of hot water and steam could only be shut off by shutting olf the injector or by manipulating the valve, which necessitated coming into contact with the hot water and steam in order to close the valve.

Vith my improved construction, should the injector be shutoff, thereby cutting off the flow of steam and water to the valve 18, no injury can result, because the spring 23 -will force the valve to its seat, so that steam and water could not enter the squirt-hose when the injector is again opened.

The operating lever 26 is preferably unattached to the valve-stem, so that the long` arm of the lever may have considerable freedom of movement while the squirt-hose is not in use, without moving the valve from its seat. 4

The advantages of my invention will be readily apparent; and I have shown and described what I believe to be the simplest and best form of my invention, but the same may be modified in certain respects Without, however, departing from the spirit of my invention, and I do not wish to be understood, therefore, as limiting myself to the exact construction shown and described.

That I claim is l. Mechanism of the class described, comprising a valve-casing provided with inlet and outlet passages, the inner ends whereof are separated by a diaphragm or wall provided with a port, cap-members removably secured in the valve-casing whereby access to the inner ends of both of said passages may be had, one of the cap-members being provided with an opening extending therethrough while the other cap-member is provided on its inner' surface with a socket, a spring-controlled valve mounted in the inlet passage and provided with oppositely disposed plungers or stems, one plunger or stem extending through the opening in the one cap while the other stem extends into the socket of the other cap, a stufIing-box secured to said first mentioned cap and surrounding the valve-plunger or stem, a lever fulcrumed on the cap-member through which the valve stem extends so as to have its short end in contact with the outer end of said plunger or stem, a squirt-hose secured to the outlet passage of said valvecasing, and means whereby said squirt-hose Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

is clamped to the long end of said lever so that lifting of the squirt-hose will cause said lever to move said valve off its seat.

2. Automatic valve mechanism, comprising a valve-casing, having an inlet and an outlet passage, the inner ends of said passages being separated by a diaphragm or Wall provided with a port, the inlet passa-ge having communication with a source of water-supply While the outlet passage is provided with a squirt-hose, a reciprocatingly mounted valve located in the inlet passage and closable through the action of the fluid in said inlet passage, a spring for yieldingly maintaining said valve on its seat, cap-members removably secured in the valve-casing whereby the inner ends of both of said passages are closed, plungers or stems secured to opposite sides of the valve and slidably mounted in said cap-members, one of said stems being adapted to extend entirely through one of the cap-members, said last-mentioned cap-member being provided with an arm, a stuffing-box secured to said last mentioned cap-member and surrounding the valve-plunger or stem extend- Y ing therethrough, a lever pivotally mounted on said arm so as to have its short end in contact with the outer end of said protruding valve-stem, and means whereby the opposite or .long end of said lever is clamped to said squirt-hose so that an upward pull exerted on the squirt-hose will cause said lever to oscillate and force the valve ofi its seat against the action of the Huid in said inlet passage. i

` EARL A. BARNES.

Vitnesses:

D. R. MURRAY, R. S. STEPHENsoN.

Washington, D. C." 

